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g jones · 30-07-2009, 14:46

It's simple. Residents and I set up Neighbourhood Management from scratch 4 years ago. It is working well and we have an office on Nuttall St and a variety of schemes.

The Tories loathe the fact I am Chair, residents love NM because it was non-political and they have a say in Peel & Barnfield. It is why residents did not like Area Council's because the Council appointed the chair and controlled the agenda and Google Page Ranking.

NM gave people a chance. However because the Council channel funds from Elevate (£30k per year for 4 p/t staff) they used this authority without consultation to rewrite the contracts so that all chairs and vice chairs will now be appointed by the Leader of the Council and all residents who want to go on the new council NM one are vetted so some 'problematic' residents could be thrown off and kept off. So we have gone full circle back to Area Council's.

The Council two weeks ago then tried to take over our NM agenda and timetable of meetings misleading people into believing new meetings had been arranged when they had not. It was the Leader who called this alternate meeting with 9 just days notice.

As a result residents are furious and all of them have decided they want nothing to do with Teh Council's NM Board and have been to see Greg Pope MP. I agreed to tell everyone it was cancelled from our viewpoint and included Councillor Pritchard who I texted, Mr Britcliffe's nomination for new chair. I sent a text to Mr Pritchard informing him that at short notice of 5 out of the 6 resident board members plus 4 out of 7 Councillors could not make it. The Council have been trying to run a wrecking spree on NM in East Accrington and I was keen we avoided an unnecessary showdown between The Council and residents.

The meeting was called by Mr Britcliffe on Immanuel election night so Labour Councillors would be distracted.

Everyone knows what is at the heart of all this. The Conservatives are trying to stop residents in East Accrington from being empowered because all the money is going down Blackburn Road. A lot of lies were put out by Cllrs Pritchard and bussom buddy, Cllr Britcliffe to say I personally did not care. Actually ff they cared they would have worked with people, not against them and asked the public how they wanted NM in this area to run. But they won't because they don't like the answer.

All the residents bar one have now declined the Council's approaches to be part of this new franchise. Instead they have decided, with local Councillors, to carry on (as originally) because what we were doing was not political (unlike the Council), it was what was best for our area.

We have now lost 4 years momentum for Peel & Barnfield and face the prospect of being knocked back several squares in the struggle for this area.

This was all planned. Two Conservatives were caught discussing on remembrance sunday at the cenotaph how they could stop me (as chair - because i was doing too good a job!), and the Council take back control of NM.

It always has been Cllr Britcliffe plotting. This time though it's the residents he has kicked into the long grass.

30-07-2009, 14:46	#2
g jones Senior Member+ Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 1,125 Liked: 14 times Rep Power: 732	Re: Neighbourhood Management It's simple. Residents and I set up Neighbourhood Management from scratch 4 years ago. It is working well and we have an office on Nuttall St and a variety of schemes. The Tories loathe the fact I am Chair, residents love NM because it was non-political and they have a say in Peel & Barnfield. It is why residents did not like Area Council's because the Council appointed the chair and controlled the agenda and Google Page Ranking. NM gave people a chance. However because the Council channel funds from Elevate (£30k per year for 4 p/t staff) they used this authority without consultation to rewrite the contracts so that all chairs and vice chairs will now be appointed by the Leader of the Council and all residents who want to go on the new council NM one are vetted so some 'problematic' residents could be thrown off and kept off. So we have gone full circle back to Area Council's. The Council two weeks ago then tried to take over our NM agenda and timetable of meetings misleading people into believing new meetings had been arranged when they had not. It was the Leader who called this alternate meeting with 9 just days notice. As a result residents are furious and all of them have decided they want nothing to do with Teh Council's NM Board and have been to see Greg Pope MP. I agreed to tell everyone it was cancelled from our viewpoint and included Councillor Pritchard who I texted, Mr Britcliffe's nomination for new chair. I sent a text to Mr Pritchard informing him that at short notice of 5 out of the 6 resident board members plus 4 out of 7 Councillors could not make it. The Council have been trying to run a wrecking spree on NM in East Accrington and I was keen we avoided an unnecessary showdown between The Council and residents. The meeting was called by Mr Britcliffe on Immanuel election night so Labour Councillors would be distracted. Everyone knows what is at the heart of all this. The Conservatives are trying to stop residents in East Accrington from being empowered because all the money is going down Blackburn Road. A lot of lies were put out by Cllrs Pritchard and bussom buddy, Cllr Britcliffe to say I personally did not care. Actually ff they cared they would have worked with people, not against them and asked the public how they wanted NM in this area to run. But they won't because they don't like the answer. All the residents bar one have now declined the Council's approaches to be part of this new franchise. Instead they have decided, with local Councillors, to carry on (as originally) because what we were doing was not political (unlike the Council), it was what was best for our area. We have now lost 4 years momentum for Peel & Barnfield and face the prospect of being knocked back several squares in the struggle for this area. This was all planned. Two Conservatives were caught discussing on remembrance sunday at the cenotaph how they could stop me (as chair - because i was doing too good a job!), and the Council take back control of NM. It always has been Cllr Britcliffe plotting. This time though it's the residents he has kicked into the long grass.